Don't defend the status quo, exiting Congressmember Kilmer says

Were Democrats too far left on the issues during the 2024 election, or were they too far left that they lost touch with everyday Americans? That's one debate to emerge from the election, when the United States not only elected Donald Trump to the presidency, but also shifted more Republican across various elections.

If you ask Congressmember Derek Kilmer, there's a lot to talk about. But watching from his corner of Washington state, Democrats might need to reassess their relationship with the idea of "the status quo."

RELATED: Washington shifted right less than any state. Why?

“This was a change election,” Kilmer told KUOW's Soundside. “People were unhappy. Candidly, I don’t think we should be defenders of the status quo. There’s a lot of people who I represent, a lot of people who are hurting economically, and if we just say, ‘Well, that’s just life in the city,’ I think we are doing that at our own, not just political peril, we’re failing to adequately acknowledge that there are people hurt that we are fighting for. To me, we have to acknowledge there needs to be change economically at a time when people are struggling to put food on the table and put a roof over their heads, and that status quo is not adequate.”

Kilmer is stepping down from Congress after spending 12 years representing Washington's 6th Congressional District, which has decent shares of conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats. That perhaps influenced his style as a Democratic lawmaker. Kilmer has been known to reach across the aisle and not let party get in the way of legislating. He's also viewed as a more centrist Democrat. He is former chair of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of likeminded Democrats more friendly with business.

Looking at the 2024 election, Kilmer admits that Democrats failed to persuade a lot of voters who could have gone either way. There were also those who chose to sit this one out.

“The reality is, if you look at the areas in the district I represent that voted for Donald Trump, they were disproportionately areas that are suffering economically, that feel like they’re being left behind economically," he said. "So, a lot of my focus over my 12 years in Congress was trying to figure out, ‘How do we create more economic opportunity in those areas?’”

Some proof of this argument, Kilmer said, is in a bill he got passed — the Recompete Act. It focused on communities that face persistent economic distress. It passed as part of the CHIPS Act.

“It became the most popular program in the history of the Economic Development Administration — 565 applications from 49 states. That is an example of the Biden/Harris administration and Congress actually delivering for a community that has struggled economically. I use that just as an example … some of this is we have to deliver for people, and we have to deliver outcomes and then articulate those outcomes.”

RELATED: Most of the country shifted right in the 2024 presidential election

“Part of the reason you see this disillusionment is that there is a sense that government isn’t working for people," Kilmer said. "The big pockets and the special interests have a whole lot of say in our system, and the everyday American doesn’t have a lot of say. And that absolutely influenced how I approached this job. It’s why I held as many townhall meetings as I did.”

After exiting Congress, Kilmer will move over to the Rockefeller Foundation where he will be vice president for the newly created U.S. Program and Policy Team.

This is just one issue Kilmer discussed with KUOW's Libby Denkmann on Soundside. Check out the full conversation below.